Module java.base
Package java.net

Class URLConnection

java.lang.Object
java.net.URLConnection
Direct Known Subclasses:
HttpURLConnection,JarURLConnection

public abstract classURLConnectionextendsObject
The abstract classURLConnection is the superclass of all classes that represent a communications link between the application and a URL. Instances of this class can be used both to read from and to write to the resource referenced by the URL.

In general, creating a connection to a URL is a multistep process:

  1. The connection object is created by invoking theopenConnection method on a URL.
  2. The setup parameters and general request properties are manipulated.
  3. The actual connection to the remote object is made, using theconnect method.
  4. The remote object becomes available. The header fields and the contents of the remote object can be accessed.

The setup parameters are modified using the following methods:

  • setAllowUserInteraction
  • setDoInput
  • setDoOutput
  • setIfModifiedSince
  • setUseCaches

and the general request properties are modified using the method:

  • setRequestProperty

Default values for theAllowUserInteraction andUseCaches parameters can be set using the methodssetDefaultAllowUserInteraction andsetDefaultUseCaches.

Each of the aboveset methods has a correspondingget method to retrieve the value of the parameter or general request property. The specific parameters and general request properties that are applicable are protocol specific.

The following methods are used to access the header fields and the contents after the connection is made to the remote object:

  • getContent
  • getHeaderField
  • getInputStream
  • getOutputStream

Certain header fields are accessed frequently. The methods:

  • getContentEncoding
  • getContentLength
  • getContentType
  • getDate
  • getExpiration
  • getLastModified

provide convenient access to these fields. ThegetContentType method is used by thegetContent method to determine the type of the remote object; subclasses may find it convenient to override thegetContentType method.

In the common case, all of the pre-connection parameters and general request properties can be ignored: the pre-connection parameters and request properties default to sensible values. For most clients of this interface, there are only two interesting methods:getInputStream andgetContent, which are mirrored in theURL class by convenience methods.

More information on the request properties and header fields of anhttp connection can be found at:

http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616.txt
Invoking theclose() methods on theInputStream orOutputStream of anURLConnection after a request may free network resources associated with this instance, unless particular protocol specifications specify different behaviours for it.

Since:
1.0
See Also:
  • Field Summary

    Fields
    Modifier and Type
    Field
    Description
    protected boolean
    Iftrue, thisURL is being examined in a context in which it makes sense to allow user interactions such as popping up an authentication dialog.
    protected boolean
    Iffalse, this connection object has not created a communications link to the specified URL.
    protected boolean
    This variable is set by thesetDoInput method.
    protected boolean
    This variable is set by thesetDoOutput method.
    protected long
    Some protocols support skipping the fetching of the object unless the object has been modified more recently than a certain time.
    protectedURL
    The URL represents the remote object on the World Wide Web to which this connection is opened.
    protected boolean
    Iftrue, the protocol is allowed to use caching whenever it can.
  • Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Modifier
    Constructor
    Description
    protected
    Constructs a URL connection to the specified URL.
  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    void
    Adds a general request property specified by a key-value pair.
    abstract void
    Opens a communications link to the resource referenced by this URL, if such a connection has not already been established.
    boolean
    Returns the value of theallowUserInteraction field for this object.
    int
    Returns setting for connect timeout.
    Retrieves the contents of this URL connection.
    getContent(Class<?>[] classes)
    Retrieves the contents of this URL connection.
    Returns the value of thecontent-encoding header field.
    int
    Returns the value of thecontent-length header field.
    long
    Returns the value of thecontent-length header field as a long.
    Returns the value of thecontent-type header field.
    long
    Returns the value of thedate header field.
    static boolean
    Returns the default value of theallowUserInteraction field.
    staticString
    Deprecated.
    The instance specific getRequestProperty method should be used after an appropriate instance of URLConnection is obtained.
    boolean
    Returns the default value of aURLConnection'suseCaches flag.
    static boolean
    Returns the default value of theuseCaches flag for the given protocol.
    boolean
    Returns the value of thisURLConnection'sdoInput flag.
    boolean
    Returns the value of thisURLConnection'sdoOutput flag.
    long
    Returns the value of theexpires header field.
    Loads filename map (a mimetable) from a data file.
    Returns the value for thenth header field.
    Returns the value of the named header field.
    long
    getHeaderFieldDate(String name, long Default)
    Returns the value of the named field parsed as date.
    int
    getHeaderFieldInt(String name, int Default)
    Returns the value of the named field parsed as a number.
    Returns the key for thenth header field.
    long
    getHeaderFieldLong(String name, long Default)
    Returns the value of the named field parsed as a number.
    Returns an unmodifiable Map of the header fields.
    long
    Returns the value of this object'sifModifiedSince field.
    Returns an input stream that reads from this open connection.
    long
    Returns the value of thelast-modified header field.
    Returns an output stream that writes to this connection.
    Returns a permission object representing the permission necessary to make the connection represented by this object.
    int
    Returns setting for read timeout. 0 return implies that the option is disabled (i.e., timeout of infinity).
    Returns an unmodifiable Map of general request properties for this connection.
    Returns the value of the named general request property for this connection.
    Returns the value of thisURLConnection'sURL field.
    boolean
    Returns the value of thisURLConnection'suseCaches field.
    staticString
    Tries to determine the content type of an object, based on the specified "file" component of a URL.
    staticString
    Tries to determine the type of an input stream based on the characters at the beginning of the input stream.
    void
    setAllowUserInteraction(boolean allowuserinteraction)
    Set the value of theallowUserInteraction field of thisURLConnection.
    void
    setConnectTimeout(int timeout)
    Sets a specified timeout value, in milliseconds, to be used when opening a communications link to the resource referenced by this URLConnection.
    static void
    Sets theContentHandlerFactory of an application.
    static void
    setDefaultAllowUserInteraction(boolean defaultallowuserinteraction)
    Sets the default value of theallowUserInteraction field for all futureURLConnection objects to the specified value.
    static void
    Deprecated.
    The instance specific setRequestProperty method should be used after an appropriate instance of URLConnection is obtained.
    void
    setDefaultUseCaches(boolean defaultusecaches)
    Sets the default value of theuseCaches field to the specified value.
    static void
    setDefaultUseCaches(String protocol, boolean defaultVal)
    Sets the default value of theuseCaches field for the named protocol to the given value.
    void
    setDoInput(boolean doinput)
    Sets the value of thedoInput field for thisURLConnection to the specified value.
    void
    setDoOutput(boolean dooutput)
    Sets the value of thedoOutput field for thisURLConnection to the specified value.
    static void
    Sets the FileNameMap.
    void
    setIfModifiedSince(long ifmodifiedsince)
    Sets the value of theifModifiedSince field of thisURLConnection to the specified value.
    void
    setReadTimeout(int timeout)
    Sets the read timeout to a specified timeout, in milliseconds.
    void
    Sets the general request property.
    void
    setUseCaches(boolean usecaches)
    Sets the value of theuseCaches field of thisURLConnection to the specified value.
    Returns aString representation of this URL connection.

    Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

    clone,equals,finalize,getClass,hashCode,notify,notifyAll,wait,wait,wait
  • Field Details

    • url

      protected URL url
      The URL represents the remote object on the World Wide Web to which this connection is opened.

      The value of this field can be accessed by thegetURL method.

      The default value of this variable is the value of the URL argument in theURLConnection constructor.

      See Also:
    • doInput

      protected boolean doInput
      This variable is set by thesetDoInput method. Its value is returned by thegetDoInput method.

      A URL connection can be used for input and/or output. Setting thedoInput flag totrue indicates that the application intends to read data from the URL connection.

      The default value of this field istrue.

      See Also:
    • doOutput

      protected boolean doOutput
      This variable is set by thesetDoOutput method. Its value is returned by thegetDoOutput method.

      A URL connection can be used for input and/or output. Setting thedoOutput flag totrue indicates that the application intends to write data to the URL connection.

      The default value of this field isfalse.

      See Also:
    • allowUserInteraction

      protected boolean allowUserInteraction
      Iftrue, thisURL is being examined in a context in which it makes sense to allow user interactions such as popping up an authentication dialog. Iffalse, then no user interaction is allowed.

      The value of this field can be set by thesetAllowUserInteraction method. Its value is returned by thegetAllowUserInteraction method. Its default value is the value of the argument in the last invocation of thesetDefaultAllowUserInteraction method.

      See Also:
    • useCaches

      protected boolean useCaches
      Iftrue, the protocol is allowed to use caching whenever it can. Iffalse, the protocol must always try to get a fresh copy of the object.

      This field is set by thesetUseCaches method. Its value is returned by thegetUseCaches method.

      Its default value is the value given in the last invocation of thesetDefaultUseCaches method.

      The default setting may be overridden per protocol withsetDefaultUseCaches(String,boolean).

      See Also:
    • ifModifiedSince

      protected long ifModifiedSince
      Some protocols support skipping the fetching of the object unless the object has been modified more recently than a certain time.

      A nonzero value gives a time as the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, GMT. The object is fetched only if it has been modified more recently than that time.

      This variable is set by thesetIfModifiedSince method. Its value is returned by thegetIfModifiedSince method.

      The default value of this field is0, indicating that the fetching must always occur.

      See Also:
    • connected

      protected boolean connected
      Iffalse, this connection object has not created a communications link to the specified URL. Iftrue, the communications link has been established.
  • Constructor Details

    • URLConnection

      protected URLConnection(URL url)
      Constructs a URL connection to the specified URL. A connection to the object referenced by the URL is not created.
      Parameters:
      url - the specified URL.
  • Method Details

    • getFileNameMap

      public static FileNameMap getFileNameMap()
      Loads filename map (a mimetable) from a data file. It will first try to load the user-specific table, defined by "content.types.user.table" property. If that fails, it tries to load the default built-in table.
      Returns:
      the FileNameMap
      Since:
      1.2
      See Also:
    • setFileNameMap

      public static void setFileNameMap(FileNameMap map)
      Sets the FileNameMap.

      If there is a security manager, this method first calls the security manager'scheckSetFactory method to ensure the operation is allowed. This could result in a SecurityException.

      Parameters:
      map - the FileNameMap to be set
      Throws:
      SecurityException - if a security manager exists and itscheckSetFactory method doesn't allow the operation.
      Since:
      1.2
      See Also:
    • connect

      public abstract void connect() throwsIOException
      Opens a communications link to the resource referenced by this URL, if such a connection has not already been established.

      If theconnect method is called when the connection has already been opened (indicated by theconnected field having the valuetrue), the call is ignored.

      URLConnection objects go through two phases: first they are created, then they are connected. After being created, and before being connected, various options can be specified (e.g., doInput and UseCaches). After connecting, it is an error to try to set them. Operations that depend on being connected, like getContentLength, will implicitly perform the connection, if necessary.

      Throws:
      SocketTimeoutException - if the timeout expires before the connection can be established
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs while opening the connection.
      See Also:
    • setConnectTimeout

      public void setConnectTimeout(int timeout)
      Sets a specified timeout value, in milliseconds, to be used when opening a communications link to the resource referenced by this URLConnection. If the timeout expires before the connection can be established, a java.net.SocketTimeoutException is raised. A timeout of zero is interpreted as an infinite timeout.

      Some non-standard implementation of this method may ignore the specified timeout. To see the connect timeout set, please call getConnectTimeout().

      Parameters:
      timeout - anint that specifies the connect timeout value in milliseconds
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the timeout parameter is negative
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:
    • getConnectTimeout

      public int getConnectTimeout()
      Returns setting for connect timeout.

      0 return implies that the option is disabled (i.e., timeout of infinity).

      Returns:
      anint that indicates the connect timeout value in milliseconds
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:
    • setReadTimeout

      public void setReadTimeout(int timeout)
      Sets the read timeout to a specified timeout, in milliseconds. A non-zero value specifies the timeout when reading from Input stream when a connection is established to a resource. If the timeout expires before there is data available for read, a java.net.SocketTimeoutException is raised. A timeout of zero is interpreted as an infinite timeout.

      Some non-standard implementation of this method ignores the specified timeout. To see the read timeout set, please call getReadTimeout().

      Parameters:
      timeout - anint that specifies the timeout value to be used in milliseconds
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - if the timeout parameter is negative
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:
    • getReadTimeout

      public int getReadTimeout()
      Returns setting for read timeout. 0 return implies that the option is disabled (i.e., timeout of infinity).
      Returns:
      anint that indicates the read timeout value in milliseconds
      Since:
      1.5
      See Also:
    • getURL

      public URL getURL()
      Returns the value of thisURLConnection'sURL field.
      Returns:
      the value of thisURLConnection'sURL field.
      See Also:
    • getContentLength

      public int getContentLength()
      Returns the value of thecontent-length header field.

      Note:getContentLengthLong() should be preferred over this method, since it returns along instead and is therefore more portable.

      Returns:
      the content length of the resource that this connection's URL references,-1 if the content length is not known, or if the content length is greater than Integer.MAX_VALUE.
    • getContentLengthLong

      public long getContentLengthLong()
      Returns the value of thecontent-length header field as a long.
      Returns:
      the content length of the resource that this connection's URL references, or-1 if the content length is not known.
      Since:
      1.7
    • getContentType

      public String getContentType()
      Returns the value of thecontent-type header field.
      Returns:
      the content type of the resource that the URL references, ornull if not known.
      See Also:
    • getContentEncoding

      public String getContentEncoding()
      Returns the value of thecontent-encoding header field.
      Returns:
      the content encoding of the resource that the URL references, ornull if not known.
      See Also:
    • getExpiration

      public long getExpiration()
      Returns the value of theexpires header field.
      Returns:
      the expiration date of the resource that this URL references, or 0 if not known. The value is the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 GMT.
      See Also:
    • getDate

      public long getDate()
      Returns the value of thedate header field.
      Returns:
      the sending date of the resource that the URL references, or0 if not known. The value returned is the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 GMT.
      See Also:
    • getLastModified

      public long getLastModified()
      Returns the value of thelast-modified header field. The result is the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 GMT.
      Returns:
      the date the resource referenced by thisURLConnection was last modified, or 0 if not known.
      See Also:
    • getHeaderField

      public String getHeaderField(String name)
      Returns the value of the named header field.

      If called on a connection that sets the same header multiple times with possibly different values, only the last value is returned.

      Parameters:
      name - the name of a header field.
      Returns:
      the value of the named header field, ornull if there is no such field in the header.
    • getHeaderFields

      public Map<String,List<String>> getHeaderFields()
      Returns an unmodifiable Map of the header fields. The Map keys are Strings that represent the response-header field names. Each Map value is an unmodifiable List of Strings that represents the corresponding field values.
      Returns:
      a Map of header fields
      Since:
      1.4
    • getHeaderFieldInt

      public int getHeaderFieldInt(String name, int Default)
      Returns the value of the named field parsed as a number.

      This form ofgetHeaderField exists because some connection types (e.g.,http-ng) have pre-parsed headers. Classes for that connection type can override this method and short-circuit the parsing.

      Parameters:
      name - the name of the header field.
      Default - the default value.
      Returns:
      the value of the named field, parsed as an integer. TheDefault value is returned if the field is missing or malformed.
    • getHeaderFieldLong

      public long getHeaderFieldLong(String name, long Default)
      Returns the value of the named field parsed as a number.

      This form ofgetHeaderField exists because some connection types (e.g.,http-ng) have pre-parsed headers. Classes for that connection type can override this method and short-circuit the parsing.

      Parameters:
      name - the name of the header field.
      Default - the default value.
      Returns:
      the value of the named field, parsed as a long. TheDefault value is returned if the field is missing or malformed.
      Since:
      1.7
    • getHeaderFieldDate

      public long getHeaderFieldDate(String name, long Default)
      Returns the value of the named field parsed as date. The result is the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970 GMT represented by the named field.

      This form ofgetHeaderField exists because some connection types (e.g.,http-ng) have pre-parsed headers. Classes for that connection type can override this method and short-circuit the parsing.

      Parameters:
      name - the name of the header field.
      Default - a default value.
      Returns:
      the value of the field, parsed as a date. The value of theDefault argument is returned if the field is missing or malformed.
    • getHeaderFieldKey

      public String getHeaderFieldKey(int n)
      Returns the key for thenth header field. Some implementations may treat the0th header field as special, in which case,getHeaderField(0) may return some value, butgetHeaderFieldKey(0) returnsnull. Forn > 0 it returnsnull if there are fewer thann+1 fields.
      Parameters:
      n - an index, wheren>=0
      Returns:
      the key for thenth header field, ornull if there are fewer thann+1 fields whenn > 0.
    • getHeaderField

      public String getHeaderField(int n)
      Returns the value for thenth header field. It returnsnull if there are fewer thann+1 fields.

      This method can be used in conjunction with thegetHeaderFieldKey method to iterate through all the headers in the message.

      Parameters:
      n - an index, wheren>=0
      Returns:
      the value of thenth header field ornull if there are fewer thann+1 fields
      See Also:
    • getContent

      public Object getContent() throwsIOException
      Retrieves the contents of this URL connection.

      This method first determines the content type of the object by calling thegetContentType method. If this is the first time that the application has seen that specific content type, a content handler for that content type is created.

      This is done as follows:

      1. If the application has set up a content handler factory instance using thesetContentHandlerFactory method, thecreateContentHandler method of that instance is called with the content type as an argument; the result is a content handler for that content type.
      2. If noContentHandlerFactory has yet been set up, or if the factory'screateContentHandler method returnsnull, then theServiceLoader mechanism is used to locateContentHandlerFactory implementations using the system class loader. The order that factories are located is implementation specific, and an implementation is free to cache the located factories. AServiceConfigurationError,Error orRuntimeException thrown from thecreateContentHandler, if encountered, will be propagated to the calling thread. The createContentHandler method of each factory, if instantiated, is invoked, with the content type, until a factory returns non-null, or all factories have been exhausted.
      3. Failing that, this method tries to load a content handler class as defined byContentHandler. If the class does not exist, or is not a subclass of ContentHandler, then anUnknownServiceException is thrown.

      Returns:
      the object fetched. Theinstanceof operator should be used to determine the specific kind of object returned.
      Throws:
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs while getting the content.
      UnknownServiceException - if the protocol does not support the content type.
      See Also:
    • getContent

      public Object getContent(Class<?>[] classes) throwsIOException
      Retrieves the contents of this URL connection.
      Parameters:
      classes - theClass array indicating the requested types
      Returns:
      the object fetched that is the first match of the type specified in the classes array. null if none of the requested types are supported. Theinstanceof operator should be used to determine the specific kind of object returned.
      Throws:
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs while getting the content.
      UnknownServiceException - if the protocol does not support the content type.
      Since:
      1.3
      See Also:
    • getPermission

      public Permission getPermission() throwsIOException
      Returns a permission object representing the permission necessary to make the connection represented by this object. This method returns null if no permission is required to make the connection. By default, this method returnsjava.security.AllPermission. Subclasses should override this method and return the permission that best represents the permission required to make a connection to the URL. For example, aURLConnection representing afile: URL would return ajava.io.FilePermission object.

      The permission returned may dependent upon the state of the connection. For example, the permission before connecting may be different from that after connecting. For example, an HTTP sever, say foo.com, may redirect the connection to a different host, say bar.com. Before connecting the permission returned by the connection will represent the permission needed to connect to foo.com, while the permission returned after connecting will be to bar.com.

      Permissions are generally used for two purposes: to protect caches of objects obtained through URLConnections, and to check the right of a recipient to learn about a particular URL. In the first case, the permission should be obtainedafter the object has been obtained. For example, in an HTTP connection, this will represent the permission to connect to the host from which the data was ultimately fetched. In the second case, the permission should be obtained and testedbefore connecting.

      Returns:
      the permission object representing the permission necessary to make the connection represented by this URLConnection.
      Throws:
      IOException - if the computation of the permission requires network or file I/O and an exception occurs while computing it.
    • getInputStream

      public InputStream getInputStream() throwsIOException
      Returns an input stream that reads from this open connection. A SocketTimeoutException can be thrown when reading from the returned input stream if the read timeout expires before data is available for read.
      Returns:
      an input stream that reads from this open connection.
      Throws:
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs while creating the input stream.
      UnknownServiceException - if the protocol does not support input.
      See Also:
    • getOutputStream

      public OutputStream getOutputStream() throwsIOException
      Returns an output stream that writes to this connection.
      Returns:
      an output stream that writes to this connection.
      Throws:
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs while creating the output stream.
      UnknownServiceException - if the protocol does not support output.
    • toString

      public String toString()
      Returns aString representation of this URL connection.
      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
      Returns:
      a string representation of thisURLConnection.
    • setDoInput

      public void setDoInput(boolean doinput)
      Sets the value of thedoInput field for thisURLConnection to the specified value.

      A URL connection can be used for input and/or output. Set the doInput flag to true if you intend to use the URL connection for input, false if not. The default is true.

      Parameters:
      doinput - the new value.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      See Also:
    • getDoInput

      public boolean getDoInput()
      Returns the value of thisURLConnection'sdoInput flag.
      Returns:
      the value of thisURLConnection'sdoInput flag.
      See Also:
    • setDoOutput

      public void setDoOutput(boolean dooutput)
      Sets the value of thedoOutput field for thisURLConnection to the specified value.

      A URL connection can be used for input and/or output. Set the doOutput flag to true if you intend to use the URL connection for output, false if not. The default is false.

      Parameters:
      dooutput - the new value.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      See Also:
    • getDoOutput

      public boolean getDoOutput()
      Returns the value of thisURLConnection'sdoOutput flag.
      Returns:
      the value of thisURLConnection'sdoOutput flag.
      See Also:
    • setAllowUserInteraction

      public void setAllowUserInteraction(boolean allowuserinteraction)
      Set the value of theallowUserInteraction field of thisURLConnection.
      Parameters:
      allowuserinteraction - the new value.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      See Also:
    • getAllowUserInteraction

      public boolean getAllowUserInteraction()
      Returns the value of theallowUserInteraction field for this object.
      Returns:
      the value of theallowUserInteraction field for this object.
      See Also:
    • setDefaultAllowUserInteraction

      public static void setDefaultAllowUserInteraction(boolean defaultallowuserinteraction)
      Sets the default value of theallowUserInteraction field for all futureURLConnection objects to the specified value.
      Parameters:
      defaultallowuserinteraction - the new value.
      See Also:
    • getDefaultAllowUserInteraction

      public static boolean getDefaultAllowUserInteraction()
      Returns the default value of theallowUserInteraction field.

      This default is "sticky", being a part of the static state of all URLConnections. This flag applies to the next, and all following URLConnections that are created.

      Returns:
      the default value of theallowUserInteraction field.
      See Also:
    • setUseCaches

      public void setUseCaches(boolean usecaches)
      Sets the value of theuseCaches field of thisURLConnection to the specified value.

      Some protocols do caching of documents. Occasionally, it is important to be able to "tunnel through" and ignore the caches (e.g., the "reload" button in a browser). If the UseCaches flag on a connection is true, the connection is allowed to use whatever caches it can. If false, caches are to be ignored. The default value comes from defaultUseCaches, which defaults to true. A default value can also be set per-protocol usingsetDefaultUseCaches(String,boolean).

      Parameters:
      usecaches - aboolean indicating whether or not to allow caching
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      See Also:
    • getUseCaches

      public boolean getUseCaches()
      Returns the value of thisURLConnection'suseCaches field.
      Returns:
      the value of thisURLConnection'suseCaches field.
      See Also:
    • setIfModifiedSince

      public void setIfModifiedSince(long ifmodifiedsince)
      Sets the value of theifModifiedSince field of thisURLConnection to the specified value.
      Parameters:
      ifmodifiedsince - the new value.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      See Also:
    • getIfModifiedSince

      public long getIfModifiedSince()
      Returns the value of this object'sifModifiedSince field.
      Returns:
      the value of this object'sifModifiedSince field.
      See Also:
    • getDefaultUseCaches

      public boolean getDefaultUseCaches()
      Returns the default value of aURLConnection'suseCaches flag.

      This default is "sticky", being a part of the static state of all URLConnections. This flag applies to the next, and all following URLConnections that are created. This default value can be over-ridden per protocol usingsetDefaultUseCaches(String,boolean)

      Returns:
      the default value of aURLConnection'suseCaches flag.
      See Also:
    • setDefaultUseCaches

      public void setDefaultUseCaches(boolean defaultusecaches)
      Sets the default value of theuseCaches field to the specified value. This default value can be over-ridden per protocol usingsetDefaultUseCaches(String,boolean)
      Parameters:
      defaultusecaches - the new value.
      See Also:
    • setDefaultUseCaches

      public static void setDefaultUseCaches(String protocol, boolean defaultVal)
      Sets the default value of theuseCaches field for the named protocol to the given value. This value overrides any default setting set bysetDefaultUseCaches(boolean) for the given protocol. Successive calls to this method change the setting and affect the default value for all future connections of that protocol. The protocol name is case insensitive.
      Parameters:
      protocol - the protocol to set the default for
      defaultVal - whether caching is enabled by default for the given protocol
      Since:
      9
    • getDefaultUseCaches

      public static boolean getDefaultUseCaches(String protocol)
      Returns the default value of theuseCaches flag for the given protocol. IfsetDefaultUseCaches(String,boolean) was called for the given protocol, then that value is returned. Otherwise, ifsetDefaultUseCaches(boolean) was called, then that value is returned. If neither method was called, the return value istrue. The protocol name is case insensitive.
      Parameters:
      protocol - the protocol whose defaultUseCaches setting is required
      Returns:
      the default value of theuseCaches flag for the given protocol.
      Since:
      9
    • setRequestProperty

      public void setRequestProperty(String key,String value)
      Sets the general request property. If a property with the key already exists, overwrite its value with the new value.

      NOTE: HTTP requires all request properties which can legally have multiple instances with the same key to use a comma-separated list syntax which enables multiple properties to be appended into a single property.

      Parameters:
      key - the keyword by which the request is known (e.g., "Accept").
      value - the value associated with it.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      NullPointerException - if key isnull
      See Also:
    • addRequestProperty

      public void addRequestProperty(String key,String value)
      Adds a general request property specified by a key-value pair. This method will not overwrite existing values associated with the same key.
      Parameters:
      key - the keyword by which the request is known (e.g., "Accept").
      value - the value associated with it.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      NullPointerException - if key is null
      Since:
      1.4
      See Also:
    • getRequestProperty

      public String getRequestProperty(String key)
      Returns the value of the named general request property for this connection.
      Parameters:
      key - the keyword by which the request is known (e.g., "Accept").
      Returns:
      the value of the named general request property for this connection. If key is null, then null is returned.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      See Also:
    • getRequestProperties

      public Map<String,List<String>> getRequestProperties()
      Returns an unmodifiable Map of general request properties for this connection. The Map keys are Strings that represent the request-header field names. Each Map value is a unmodifiable List of Strings that represents the corresponding field values.
      Returns:
      a Map of the general request properties for this connection.
      Throws:
      IllegalStateException - if already connected
      Since:
      1.4
    • setDefaultRequestProperty

      @Deprecatedpublic static void setDefaultRequestProperty(String key,String value)
      Deprecated.
      The instance specific setRequestProperty method should be used after an appropriate instance of URLConnection is obtained. Invoking this method will have no effect.
      Sets the default value of a general request property. When aURLConnection is created, it is initialized with these properties.
      Parameters:
      key - the keyword by which the request is known (e.g., "Accept").
      value - the value associated with the key.
      See Also:
    • getDefaultRequestProperty

      @Deprecatedpublic static String getDefaultRequestProperty(String key)
      Deprecated.
      The instance specific getRequestProperty method should be used after an appropriate instance of URLConnection is obtained.
      Returns the value of the default request property. Default request properties are set for every connection.
      Parameters:
      key - the keyword by which the request is known (e.g., "Accept").
      Returns:
      the value of the default request property for the specified key.
      See Also:
    • setContentHandlerFactory

      public static void setContentHandlerFactory(ContentHandlerFactory fac)
      Sets theContentHandlerFactory of an application. It can be called at most once by an application.

      TheContentHandlerFactory instance is used to construct a content handler from a content type.

      If there is a security manager, this method first calls the security manager'scheckSetFactory method to ensure the operation is allowed. This could result in a SecurityException.

      Parameters:
      fac - the desired factory.
      Throws:
      Error - if the factory has already been defined.
      SecurityException - if a security manager exists and itscheckSetFactory method doesn't allow the operation.
      See Also:
    • guessContentTypeFromName

      public static String guessContentTypeFromName(String fname)
      Tries to determine the content type of an object, based on the specified "file" component of a URL. This is a convenience method that can be used by subclasses that override thegetContentType method.
      Parameters:
      fname - a filename.
      Returns:
      a guess as to what the content type of the object is, based upon its file name.
      See Also:
    • guessContentTypeFromStream

      public static String guessContentTypeFromStream(InputStream is) throwsIOException
      Tries to determine the type of an input stream based on the characters at the beginning of the input stream. This method can be used by subclasses that override thegetContentType method.

      Ideally, this routine would not be needed. But manyhttp servers return the incorrect content type; in addition, there are many nonstandard extensions. Direct inspection of the bytes to determine the content type is often more accurate than believing the content type claimed by thehttp server.

      Parameters:
      is - an input stream that supports marks.
      Returns:
      a guess at the content type, ornull if none can be determined.
      Throws:
      IOException - if an I/O error occurs while reading the input stream.
      See Also: